Holiday Delays and much much more...

When we last met I was all excited about my trip to Maldives with my Mum and Dad.

On the morning we left I had my pre op for my hip replacement at the hospital which went well.  I rushed from the hospital and got the airport in good time only to find that our plane was delayed 24 hours.  Ironically our plane was stuck in Barbados where we were delayed last time (it sounds amazing but it really wasn’t).  This always happens to my Mum and Dad so I felt really sorry for them.

We were put up in a hotel in Manchester and it was nice, the food was good and it was a decent room (we asked for an accessible room), but it wasn’t like being on an island in Maldives.

We were eventually delayed for 24 hours and 17 minutes which is rubbish when you only have a week’s holiday to start with.  We had loads of room on the plane though so I lay across a load of seats and went to sleep.  I’ve been listening to old XFM recordings of The Ricky Gervais Show.  I’m a big fan and have all the podcasts and have loved An Idiot Abroad. (So much so my brother had to buy me the DVD because we’ve not got sky and I was bugging him to watch them at his house!)  So...I was listening to these programs on the flight and everyone was really quiet or asleep.  I was laughing so much at Karl Pilkington describing his girlfriends new hair cut that I thought I was going to burst.  He said ‘she looks like Dave Hill from Slade!’ Amazing! My fella said that to me once.  My brother said my hair looked like Lego man hair and my boyfriend said I looked like Dave Hill.  Aren’t they lovely!



Says it all really doesn't it!


Anyway after an 11 hour flight we landed into a storm but it was lovely and warm.  The airport assistance people were giving me some strange looks when I was cringing at the thought of being rained on as I was expecting it to be freezing cold, but of course it wasn’t.  We had a 30 minute speedboat transfer and it was really uncomfortable because of the weather.  It was so painful that I was dreading the journey home.  I think this is one place I’m glad I’ve been to as I don’t think it would be suitable after the hip surgery.  Having said that the transfer on the way back was really calm and it was very comfortable so the rough journey was probably a one off.

We got to the resort eventually...and it was lovely.  The rep reminded me of Helga from ‘Allo ‘Allo! which made me smile.  She was always getting things wrong but this just added to the amusement.

One of the best things about Maldives is the snorkeling. I saw some amazing and very colourful fish.  We saw lots of angel fish, butterfly fish, blue stripe snappers, some humbug damsel fish and loads of others but I can’t remember the names of the rest, or identify what they were.  We didn’t find Nemo though!  My Mum said there were some fish guarding the coral and they were chasing her, and no she hadn’t been drinking!  I found the swimming really difficult and I’ve realised how rubbish I am at it.  My Dad had some flippers so he kept towing me around so I could see the fish and it was great fun. 

There were huge craters in the sea and we went to have a look in one of them.  The water was up to my knees at one point and then a couple of metres away from me it was so deep you couldn’t see the bottom.  One little fish which was a bright electric blue was after me and trying to chase me, he tried to peck my chest the little monkey.

Even though I only snorkeled for a short while, and to be honest I was only floating most of the time, it really took it out of me.  They say swimming is good for you but I’m guessing that’s if you can manage to do it. 

We were told by our holiday company that I probably wouldn’t be able to use my wheelchair as it is all sandy paths so I didn’t take it with me.  I was really struggling so we asked if there was any way we could borrow one from the hotel.  Immediately they sprung into action (this was at about 7 in the evening) and by 11 o’clock the next morning a wheelchair was delivered to our room.  You can’t get much better service than that.  Having the chair meant that if I wore myself out snorkeling then I wouldn’t have to worry about walking to dinner, and in the mornings when I can’t move it didn’t matter because my Dad could wheel me to breakfast.  I feel this was good self management.

We always play this game when we go on holiday.  The Look Alike Game.  The rules are that they can be famous people or people we know it doesn’t matter.  This holiday was slim picking.  A couple of years ago we saw the best Joan Sims look alike ever.  In fact I wouldn't have been surprised if it was her daughter.  She was so good I found myself staring at her whenever I saw her because I couldn’t believe it wasn’t Joan Sims!  Therefore, I have decided that because of Joan our standards are pretty high now; the only good ones we saw this year were Yoko Ono, Miles Davis and Gordon Kaye.  (I know what you’re thinking a Rene look alike and a woman who reminds me of Helga!)

Every night at 9 o’clock the hotel staff bring scraps of food to feed the fish off the jetty.  We saw some sharks and some rays and loads of other little fish.  I tried to get some photos of them but they are not very good and the water looks rather murky so here are some pictures my Dad took for me while I was having my afternoon nap.



Smile Ray!



The food was great; considering it was a buffet and its mass catering I thought it was excellent.  I ate fish almost every day and I hate fish so my Mum and Dad almost fell of their chairs when I kept asking for more.  I was a little disappointed with the roast dinner on the Sunday, who goes half way round the world for a Sunday roast eh?  Come on...bring on the curries?

All in all it is a lovely place to see before it is gone forever and I would encourage anyone to go and have a look as it is paradise. 



My ideal knitting spot for when I was too sore to go in the sea. This was taken just
before I realised I was stuck on the sunbed and my Dad had to come and rescue me.
 I never learn!